The Jack Benny Show

Series Description

After 23 years on the radio, Jack Benny brought his comedy series to television! Jack would get himself and his friends into every kind of bad situation you can imagine. The program regularly had other popular "stars" of the era as guest stars. Some of the things that the character played by Jack Benny on the show is best known for are his terrible Violin playing, his never getting older than 39 years old and his "penny pinching" demeanor.

Jack Benny Show Trivia

Before the Jack Benny Show on TV, there was a Jack Benny Program on the radio that aired from May 2, 1932 through May 22, 1955 for a whopping 920 episodes!.

Jack Benny initially used Ben K. Benny as his stage name.

In his hometown of Waukegan, Illinois there is a middle school named after him. In reference to Jack being eternally 39 years old, the school's football team is called the "39ers".

Jack once appeared on, "The $64,000 Question." Benny quit after answering only one question and took home $64.00 because he was so afraid of losing it. His category was violins.

The Jack Benny Show was nominated for 2 emmy awards in 1955 and 2 more in 1956 but didn't win any of them. The series did, however, win a golden globe award in 1958 for best television show!

Jack Benny was born "Benjamin Kubelsky" on February 14, 1894 in Chicago, Illinois. He died December 26, 1974 of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles, CA. He married Mary Livingstone on January 24, 1927 and they remained married until his death.

Mary Livingstone's name before marrying Jack was Sadye Marks.

Pilot Episode

On May 8, 1949, the Jack Benny Show appeared for the first time with guest stars: The Andrews Sisters, Lum and Abner, Isaac Stern and Margaret Whiting.

More Jack Benny Show Episodes

The next episode aired on October 28, 1950 and guest-starred Dinah Shore and Ken Murray. During the 1950/51 and 1951/52 seasons, the show aired sporatically as "specials" with only 10 shows airing during that time. From October of '52 to January of '53 the Jack Benny Show aired once per month. From September of 1953 to July of 1960 the Jack Benny Show aired every other week. From July of 1960 till its end in September of 1965 the show was seen every week.